Harper’s Index

You may know how many sunglasses Jack Nicholson owns or what percentage of leaves on New Hampshire trees turned red this fall. But do you know the price of an AK-47 assault rifle or how much a fully equipped “terrorist-proof” Mercedes 500 costs at Washington’s Counter Spy Shop? This and more, from Harper’s Index.

Estimated percentage of boys born in the United States in 1984 who were circumcised: 80

Percentage of boys born in Britain who were: 0.4

U.S. spending on health care in 1960, expressed as a percentage of the gross national product: 5.3

Today: 10.6

Percentage of Americans’ disposable income spent on insurance premiums: 11.1

Percentage of South Korea’s gross national product accounted for by export earnings: 33

Percentage of Japan’s gross national product accounted for by export earnings: 17

Amount Latin American countries earned on their exports in 1984: $125 billion

Amount they paid in principal and interest on their debts: $49 billion

Percentage of the 90,000 Latin Americans who have “disappeared” since 1963 who were Guatemalan: 39

Wholesale price of AK-47: $230

Price of a fully equipped “terrorist-proof” Mercedes 500 at Washington’s Counter Spy Shop: $208,000

Number of white South African males who failed to report for military service in 1984: 1,596

In the first six months of 1985: 7,589

Estimated number of Vietnam draft resisters still living in Canada: 10,000

Portion of American households made up of a single person in 1955: 1/10

Today: 1/4

Average number of jokes Henny Youngman delivers in a 40-minute monologue: 245

Percentage of men who say they are happier since their divorce or separation: 58

Percentage of women who say this: 85

Percentage increase, since 1980, in the number of lawyers who specialize in divorce cases: 100

Percentage of federal district court judges appointed by President Carter who are millionaires: 4

Percentage appointed by President Reagan who are: 22.5

Percentage of all federal judges appointed by President Reagan who graduated from Ivy League law schools: 10

Percentage of Fortune 500 companies that tested employees and job applicants for illegal drug use in 1982: 10

Percentage that test today: 25

Pairs of sunglasses owned by Jack Nicholson: 15

Number of Faberge Imperial eggs owned by Malcolm Forbes: 11

By the Kremlin: 10

Weekly sales per square foot nearest the cash registers in the average supermarket: $22.80

Weekly sales per square foot elsewhere in the store: $7.76

Cavities the average 15-year-old had in 1970: 12

Cavities the average 15-year-old has today: 8

Percentage of trees in New Hampshire whose leaves turned red this fall: 13

Percentage whose leaves turned red 35 years ago: 9